


ID: Love

by GintaxAlvissforever



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Corruption, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jealousy, M/M, Magic Mirrors, Mirror Universe, Multi, One-Sided Attraction, Original Character(s), Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Post-Canon, Post-Golden Deer Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:55:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23258026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GintaxAlvissforever/pseuds/GintaxAlvissforever
Summary: The war against the Empire is over and the reconstruction of Fodlan began. The Black Eagles needed to work hard in order to win the trust of the people of Fodlan despite all of them siding with the Alliance during the war. Linhardt was used to being treated as an outsider but only a selective few people made him feel at ease.Within a year, those people have slipped away from him. Caspar had gone on an adventure around Fodlan without him and Byleth was engaged with Claude despite the revelations of his heritage. And Linhardt would be forced to meet up with said people again on the 20th of Horsebow Moon.Linhardt makes the trip to Garreg Mach Monastery early due to Byleth requesting for his assistance. When he arrives, Byleth asks him to help Anna out with one of her new products. Apparently, she acquired a rare hero's relic that was said to be lost to history. All Linhardt needs to do is examine it to determine if it's true.Unknown to Linhardt, the mirror has many dark secrets that could destroy his very soul the moment he peers at his reflection.
Relationships: Caspar von Bergliez & Linhardt von Hevring, Caspar von Bergliez/Hilda Valentine Goneril, Linhardt von Hevring & My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	ID: Love

**Author's Note:**

> I finished a post game sidequest in the hentai game that inspired Snakes and Sanguine. This idea wouldn't work with the Sylvix pairing so I went with the character it would work with. As a result, I am able to have most of my endgame pairings for my universe.
> 
> ID is just another word for "My" (As shown in Fire Emblem Awakening with the songs being named ID something.)
> 
> As usual, Byleth is male, Beth is female. The two picked the Golden Deer house but it ended up a merged route with the Blue Lions. Everyone is recruited outside of two characters.

The year is 1186 AD. The date is the 20th of Harvest Moon. It has been one year since the war that engulfed all of Fódlan ended and peace returned. The Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance joined together to defeat the Adrestian Empire. The death of Edelgard von Hresvelg meant the end of an era without an emperor. The defeated nation was now occupied by both kingdom and alliance territory. However, this was only a temporary arrangement. When the nobles fixed themselves up and the economy of the empire was back on its feet, the occupation would leave. Until then, the empire needed to rebuild itself from the ground up after losing the war they started.

The problem was that many corrupt nobles have already been purged leaving the younger generation to take up the reigns. The people of the empire did not react well to this as many of the nobles had deflected to the kingdom-alliance territory. They were the cause of the empire's fall and they needed to take responsibility for abandoning their homeland. These nobles were given protection by King Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd. With the Empire defeated, the kingdom became the main central power with the church regaining its power once Rhea stepped down and Byleth had taken her place. The people were more supportive of the man who helped lead the Kingdom and Alliance to victory over the woman that had been held in captivity for five years. Given the revelations that Rhea gave to Byleth and Claude, her stepping down was completely justified.

Byleth may be picking up the pieces to reform the church with the help of the kingdom, but the empire was expected to comply with the demands. Linhardt has no trouble with Byleth giving orders. Neither did Ferdinand or Bernadetta. Still, it would have been nice if it was more than these three nobles doing most of the work for the Empire reform.

Linhardt Von Hevring yawned as he finished reading a letter addressed to him. The bishop had been given power over his house and he was far from pleased. All Linhardt wanted to do was spend the rest of his days researching crests and sleeping. Now he had to wait a little longer until his dream life came to fruition. The young healer was tasked with two territories and that annoys him. He had his childhood friend to thank for the second territory.

"Why do I even need to go?" Linhardt asks himself. He frowns at the context of the letter. "Why can't Claude leave me alone?"

Dimitri may have been in charge overall, but that was because the leader of the Alliance, Claude Von Riegan, had disappeared shortly after the war leaving the alliance in temporary shambles. Lorenz Hellman Gloucester was now in charge of the alliance due to a not so shocking revelation about Claude's heritage.

Claude is actually the Prince of Almyra. Linhardt suspected as much during the war when Claude was able to ask the Almyra nation for assistance. Combined with his skin color, his demeanor and having a different fighting style than the people of Fódlan, only a not so observant person wouldn't see it.

The people of Fódlan still needed to get used to the idea of a friendly relationship with Almyra. Claude vanished in order to claim the throne from his homeland. Many would see that as cowardly seeing as how he protected the Alliance for five years only to leave when the war was over. If Byleth wasn't put in charge of the Church of Seiros, there might have been a larger backlash.

Claude still found ways to send letters to his friends and comrades despite the long distance. The letter wasn't all that interesting for Linhardt. Normally, he wouldn't bother, but Claude gave an incentive.

_Linhardt, I know how lazy you can be and I know you don't want to hear this from me, but if you come to Garreg Mach, I'll make sure Teach gives you access to the Holy Tomb. I know how much you love your Crest Research._

Right Claude was on that. But the problem was that Linhardt had to go out of his way to travel as well as bring a gift.

The only reason Claude sent him this letter was to remind him that Byleth's birthday was tomorrow. Byleth clearly forgot it was his birthday so of course Claude would be the one to remind everyone and attempt to get them all back together after a year. It worked before with the five year promise. It should work again.

There was a tiny note at the bottom of the letter that Linhardt would have glossed over if it wasn't written so hastily.

_PS: Byleth also wanted your help on something that was just delivered to the church. Look at it and then talk to him._

If something caught Byleth's eye, it was always Seteth he went to. Seeing as how he was addressing him of all people meant the item might not be something that he wanted Seteth to see. That intrigued Linhardt enough to make himself get out of his room and prepare for the trip to the former academy. What his father told him wouldn't matter. After he abandoned his family and stole some money from them, Linhardt hadn't been on great terms with them after the war.

Despite all that happened, Linhardt wasn't allowed to travel alone. It just didn't matter if he deflected from the Empire. The fact that the nobles of the Kingdom and Alliance demanded that anyone from the Empire be watched only agitated the bishop. The Empire lost the war and the people of the Empire suffered the consequences.

This didn't bother Linhardt. What did bother him was the companions that he had to travel with. One was a proud, loud noble who would make any of his companions' ears bleed. The other was a quiet snake that needed to be watched carefully. If the latter could keep the former distracted, Linhardt could sleep until their carriage arrived at Garreg Mach. Sadly, that wasn't going to happen when his mind kept wandering about his companions. It wasn't Ferdinand Von Aegir. He just couldn't read the atmosphere and realized that he preferred a quiet trip over one where talking was required.

The elephant in the carriage was of course Hubert Von Vestra. He should have died when the Kingdom and Alliance army assaulted the capital of Enbarr. Hubert was supposed to be guarding the gates that separated everyone from Edelgard. However, something happened forcing Hubert to retreat inside.

Linhardt wondered what transpired in the throne room. The task of dealing with Edelgard went to Byleth, Beth. Dimitri and Claude. Everyone else needed to route the enemy inside the palace.

All that Linhardt knew about the situation was that Dimitri did not deal the final blow to Edelgard like he always wanted. Instead, Edelgard's uncle had revealed himself to be the leader of Those Who Slither in the Dark. The same people who caused the tragedy of Remire and killed Jeralt five years ago. Linhardt also overhead Lysithea speaking to Byleth and Claude about how those same people experimented on her and the reason why she had two crests inside her frail body. It was an odd chain of events when Thales retreated after killing Edelgard in front of the professor and the others.

Hubert miraculously survived only to see Edelgard be brought down by the man he hated with all of his heart. His anguish and hatred was so strong that he willingly threw his pride away and begged to join up with Byleth just so he could eliminate Thales personally. He did not care what happened to him afterwards. Normally, it would be a bad idea to keep the right hand man of the deceased emperor. However, Hubert knew where Those Who Slither in the Dark we're located making him a vital asset in dealing with the man who manipulated Edelgard until her death.

The army as a whole didn't accept Hubert into their rankings, but the war was not over. When the Agarthans were wiped out, the war would be over.

To prove that Hubert was willing to assist Byleth in his quest in getting rid of Thales, he gave the location on where Archbishop Rhea was held captive.

The next month was spent preparing for the infiltration. At the end of Blue Sea Moon, the professor led the group to Shambala. Those Who Slither in the Dark expected Byleth and threw out everything they had in order to get rid of the "Fell Star" as Thales declared.

Linhardt still questioned how there were so few casualties. It might have been because of both Byleth and Beth leading everyone carefully and gracefully. It might have been because the Agarthans weren't as dangerous to the people as the Empire was. It might also have been because everyone was convinced this was the last battle and defeating Thales meant the war was officially over. There were only two major casualties and then a few hundred soldiers dying overall.

Linhardt didn't have enough information about Rhea. All he knew was that she had sustained fatal injuries from a fatal attack. If he had to make a hypothesis, he would say that Rhea was the white dragon that intercepted the javelins of light that Thales aimed at Shambala in order to take out his enemies in a last ditch effort. That failed.

The bishop was in charge of the almost casualty. Linhardt might have rolled his eyes thinking about it, but perhaps this wasn't a surprise at all.

Hubert threw himself in front of one of those titans for Ferdinand's sake. The dark mage always needed to follow after Ferdinand when he foolishly threw himself into battle. While the former noble grew out of being the center of attention, he was still in charge of one of the many battalions. Of course Ferdinand put his men above all else. When it didn't seem like the battalion could stun the titan in time, Ferdinand ordered a retreat for those who were injured.

Because Ferdinand didn't watch his back, he almost got blown away. A fragile mage taking a hit for a man on a horse was almost comical, especially since Hubert would never throw his life away for anyone but Edelgard. Yet, Edelgard was dead and there was no one else for Hubert to serve...but he still ended up catching some sort of emotion if he wanted to go out sacrificing his former classmate.

Linhardt refused to let Hubert die. He needed the man to wake up just so he could lecture him again. Five years ago, he had told Hubert that he would work himself to death if he continued down this path. He needed to tell Hubert how he was right and the dark mage should be ashamed of himself.

The day of chewing Hubert out died at that moment. Beth ordered Linhardt to retreat with Ferdinand. Lysithea managed to not use a single warp spell in battle. To be able to send three people back to Garreg Mach was nothing short of amazing.

Getting Hubert to the infirmary where Manuela remained with a few others, she and Linhardt worked on trying to save Hubert. They healed his visible injuries and stopped the bleeding. However, the raven haired mage fell into a coma. The chances of him waking up again were very slim. Ferdinand didn't wish to hear that his former classmate could potentially die because of his carelessness. Nonetheless, he believed in Hubert's recovery.

Everyone was surprised that Hubert woke up sooner than later. It was at a good time too, seeing as how Rhea needed to be treated. That was when Ferdinand was hit with the terrible news.

Hubert lost his memory. Manuela didn't know how that happened and neither did Linhardt. Both assumed that maybe he was bleeding in the head, but they lacked the sources to actually check. However, he wasn't going to die from his injuries.

It was ironic that the man who devoted himself to one person not only lost the person he swore to protect, but would now not even remember his devotion. Memory loss was different for everyone and Hubert forgot all the people involved in his life who had been his family, former friends and enemies. He managed to maintain his tactical mind and his magic prowess. His dark magic was non-existent for some odd reason, but he still has reason magic to work with. Another guess that Linhardt had was that because the Titanus was linked to the dark magic learned by Those Who Slither in the Dark that he lost the knowledge bestowed to him.

Hubert's selective memory loss worked more in the dark mage's favor than anything else. He has no recollection of his war crimes committed under the Empire. He couldn't remember who he originally served and who was supposed to be his enemy. Without dark magic, one could say that the Hubert Von Vestra of the collapsed Empire died because this Hubert would be allowed to start anew despite his bloody past.

Despite Hubert's past, Ferdinand allowed the Empress' right hand man to work beside him in restoring the Empire. As long as Hubert "atoned" he was allowed to live. Most of Fódlan wouldn't be pleased. Hubert was still a dangerous man on the surface. If they knew he had lost his memories and grew a heart as a result, there would be many assasination attempts.

Ferdinand only needed to report to either Dimitri or Claude if Hubert started acting up. Linhardt didn't believe that Hubert was ever going to get his memories back. Whatever medicine of technology that could reverse the damage had been buried under rubble. Excavating the ruins of Shambala was a future project after Fódlan had settled in after the war.

It didn't matter for the young noble. Ferdinand kept his eyes and hands on Hubert at all times...even when Ferdinand failed to realize how to court an amnesiac.

The funniest thing to Linhardt and everyone who knew Hubert was how he still ended up developing feelings for the optimistic noble. Dorothea and he assumes that Hubert has some sort of affection for Ferdinand with and without his memories, he was more obvious about it. Ferdinand stayed oblivious and it was going to take some time before Ferdinand realized his own feelings.

"To think we will all come together again within a year after the war." Ferdinand hummed. Despite all that happened, the noble was excited to see everyone again.

"Time goes by fast when you are signing bills and negotiating trade routes." Hubert reminded the younger noble.

A few parts of Hubert's personality changed as a result of his lost memory. Besides not being as affected by heights as he did when he was the frightening assassin, Hubert spoke casually with Ferdinand. Casual dialogue meant it was easy for the former dark mage to throw shade in his partner's face without Ferdinand realizing it.

"But it's for a birthday celebration!" Ferdinand exclaims. "And a celebration for our professor becoming the new Archbishop."

"His coronation was last year." Linhardt reminds his friend. "Everyone and their mother knows about that."

"We are most likely celebrating what we already knew about Claude though, hmm…" Hubert adds.

There were some students in class 1180 that still failed to know that Claude wasn't from Fodlan. If it wasn't obvious before when Claude vanished and left everything to Lorenz, he would now. He needed to announce it for political reasons. Linhardt had a nasty feeling that Claude would do more than just announce his status in Almyra.

"I for one would like to know why Claude abandoned his post after speaking about how he would change Fodlan." Ferdinand started. "If he doesn't have a good reason, I will make it clear how much Lorenz suffered because of him."

"That will not be necessary," Hubert tells him. "What will be necessary is you looking presentable to him when the guest of honor arrives."

"But I'm the guest of honor, am I not?"

"Oh, you only wish you were."

Linhardt felt his heart sink watching his two former classmates. Hubert may have had amnesia, but he still managed to remain his sarcastic self. Only difference was his feelings were more apparent, but Ferdinand remained oblivious despite the teasing.

Everyone around Linhardt seemed to find love after the war. One would think that only Sylvain and Dorothea were thinking about romance, but bonds had been built during the war. Someone as observant as Linhardt should have figured that those he might have cared for more than friends ended up with someone who was more open to their feelings.

Perhaps, that was the reason he didn't want to go to Garreg Mach. Napping all day and then researching the next sounded great in retrospect, but it wasn't going to change the fact that his heart was in pieces knowing he would have to acknowledge that the people he had fallen in love with are with their significant other and will announce it when everyone has gathered. Linhardt shut his eyes in frustration and tried to drown the former Black Eagle students out. He needed all the energy he could get when they arrived.

* * *

At last, the trio arrived at Garreg Mach. In one year, everything changed. Byleth, now in charge of the church, had continued reconstructing the place from the ground up. The church needed to rebuild itself first, so Byleth made sure to focus on that. He also needed to change the structure of the academy. In order to start a new era, the rich and the poor would no longer be segregated in the dorm rooms. Byleth still wanted to keep the theme of the three houses despite what had transpired. The war should not tarnish the memories of the Black Eagles. The Empire students would need to start over from the ground up, but the Blue Lions and Golden Deer could not get cocky just because their side won the war. Byleth intended to bring the Ashen Wolves to the surface no longer isolated from the world.

Truth would be installed into the system. Without Rhea, Byleth intended to bring back the banned books with a few restrictions. (Seteth insisted that any erotica series concerning Saint Cethleann would remain banned and Byleth had no choice but to comply with that.) Byleth was looking to right what was wrong and get Fodlan up to date with nations like Almyra. It would take years to achieve, but Byleth was up to the task.

Others had already arrived at Garreg Mach before them. Most of the staff members had stuck around to help Byleth so Linhardt expected to see Hannaman and Manuela again. Seteth and Flayn were glued to the church. With some convincing, Catherine and Shamir stuck around with the reconstruction. Alois had left to return to his family only to return to help Byleth. Gilbert was the only Knight to not return, but that might have to do with Byleth making the old man go home with Annette.

Linhardt wouldn't know which students would arrive first but he had some speculation based on prior observation. Felix always found an excuse to not work as the new Duke of Fradarius and would jump on a horse to reach Byleth the moment an opportunity came up. Normally, he would be with Sylvain and Ingrid, but they took their duties more seriously.

The former Ashen Wolves had left to return home after the war. Linhardt had kept in touch with Hapi and knew she had returned the moment she was done with her hidden village. She had taken a huge liking to Byleth and now that he was the new Archbishop, she believed that change would actually happen within the church.

Yuri would return simply because he couldn't stay away from Byleth either. Balthus would be with Claude as a bodyguard of sorts so his appearance was determined based on the Almyran Prince leaving Constance as the only member to remain in the Empire to deal with her issues concerning resurrecting her own house. She passed on the invitation to travel with Ferdinand, so Linhardt assumed she'd arrive later.

That left former Golden Deer students. Leonie stayed to protect Byleth like she promised to Jeralt. Lysithea had been appointed as Hannaman's apprentice and they both researched ways to rid her crest. Hilda and Lorenz would most likely arrive with Claude and Balthus. (Linhardt felt that Claude did not need any bodyguards given his title, but he underestimated how overprotective they became of Claude over the years). Raphael and Ignatz would be late and Marianne was still handling issues in Edmund Territory.

Byleth waited for the trio to arrive with Flayn by his side. Ferdinand perked up upon seeing the young bishop by Byleth's side. Linhardt wondered how the two became friends given how different the two were in terms of personalities. Hubert didn't seem to mind too much though, especially when Flayn couldn't stop herself from embracing the taller male.

"Ferdinand, you have arrived!" Flayn exclaims. "I am so glad!"

"Flayn, it has been awhile!" Ferdinand hums. "How have you been?"

"I have been well! Brother and Byleth have been too!"

It was Hubert that ended up greeting Byleth first as a result. Linhardt found it ironic how the student that hated Byleth the most ended up being the one that saw the former professor fondly without his memories.

"It is a pleasure to see you again Archbishop Byleth." Hubert greeted. "I hope you were not outside for too long."

"Not really." Byleth answered. "Flayn and I were fishing before you three arrived."

 _It's always fishing._ Linhardt thought to himself. He waved toward Byleth and Flayn but the young lady ignored his greeting. She was probably still mad at him for his insensitive proposal.

"Never a dull moment in your life." Hubert couldn't help but snark. Byleth didn't mind too much.

"Was the trip okay?" Byleth asks. "You tend not to do well with flight."

"It was manageable." the former dark mage responds. "You have a certain noble here who did not understand when to shut his mouth. However, his endless chatter made it harder to focus on the fact my feet were not on the ground."

Byleth smiles softly. "That's good."

Now that Flayn was done with cooing over Ferdinand, it was now time for them to pack their stuff back in the dorm. They'd be here for a week at least. The archbishop suggested to Flayn to help Ferdinand and Hubert back to their old dorm rooms. Hubert might not have remembered where it was, but Ferdinand did. They allowed the young girl to lead the two toward the dorms. Linhardt was not left along with Byleth.

"Linhardt…" Byleth spoke. "It really is nice you could make it on short notice."

"I guess…"

Linhardt got a good look at Byleth to see what had changed within a year. The former professor donned Rhea's old clothes with a few changes. He stood up tall and proud. There were no secrets hidden in his green eyes. He was handsome now as he was a year ago. Linhardt might have been a loss of words if he didn't notice the other smaller details that ruined his mood.

Something that Linhardt took note of was Byleth's lack of gloves. Unlike his sister, Byleth rarely took them off unless he absolutely had to. If the gloves were dirty or he needed to wash his hands, the gloves were off. Otherwise, black leather was the default appearance of his hands even with the new outfit. Today, Byleth kept them off. That action alone should have been a good thing. The war was over and as the new Archbishop, he needed to wear colors suiting his new title. Linhardt couldn't be happy when there was a new sparkly ring gently around his ring finger.

 _So that's the announcement Claude wants to make._ Linhardt thinks bitterly to himself. Claude most likely had a matching ring given to him by Byleth. It might even be the one bestowed to the former professor seven years ago.

Linhardt knew better than to continue pining for someone who wasn't interested in him. Many other students had fallen in love with the male professor during the academy years and have successfully moved on from their crush. The announcement will bury whatever love they have left for Byleth. Linhardt needed to get rid of his affections too, but his stomach quenched at the idea.

_No use being jealous. You were never in his vision. I don't need anyone else._

Linhardt was smart enough to know he wasn't doing a good job convincing himself that he was okay being in the monastery…

"Is something the matter Linhardt?" Byleth asks in a worried tone. In a year, the former professor started to show his emotions better. This didn't make Linhardt feel any better though as he hated to see Byleth concerned for him.

"The trip wore me out." Linhardt answered with a yawn. "I need a nap before I decide to do anything of importance."

Byleth seemed to be in agreement. What came out of his mouth proved the opposite.

"I am sorry to ask you for your assistance after just arriving. There is something I need you to look at before I let you sleep."

Linhardt expected this to happen. In the past, he could easily dismiss Byleth's requests and nap for the rest of the day. When Byleth had vanished for five years, Linhardt realized he took his professor for granted and told himself he would actually listen to Byleth now regardless of how he felt. This is just another one of those times.

"Are you for real Professor?" Linhardt asks half-heartedly. He let out a small yawn. "This better be worth my time."

"I will not know until you look at it."

Byleth leads Linhardt away toward their destination.

* * *

For some strange reason, Anna thought it would be a good idea for the strange mirror to be placed in the Black Eagle classroom. Linhardt assumes that Anna wanted to keep the mirror away from the church so Seteth wouldn't confiscate it. It all didn't matter for Linhardt. He would examine the mirror, determine it's worth and be on his merry way if he felt it would be a waste of his precious time.

The only people in the classroom besides Anna and him is Byleth. The Archbishop showed signs of concern being involved in this scheme. The person who specifically questioned him wasn't around.

"Shouldn't Claude be here?" Linhardt questioned in an aggravated tone. "He is the one that singled me out."

"Claude said he needed to have someone else look at it after you. He is being extremely cautious." the Archbishop answers.

Anna rolls her eyes in annoyance. "If the mirror really is cursed, I would have given it to the Abyssians."

Byleth shook his head. "If the mirror is dangerous, I refuse to let them get hurt."

"But you're willing to put me in harm's way?" Linhardt says in an annoyed tone.

Byleth shook his head. "No. I trust you to handle this if there is more to this mirror. Normally, I would ask Hubert to look into it…"

"Hubert is with Ferdinand settling in right now." Linhardt finished. "And just because he's gaining his powers back slowly doesn't mean he will remember dabbing in his cursed magic that this mirror might have."

That was the main thing. What if this mirror was made by Those Who Slither in the Dark? They had been dealt with for a year now, but that didn't mean that their contraptions were gone. If this was meant to be used as a trap, it was better to determine it now then to wait and let someone else with less experience get hurt. The bishop was rather pleased that Byleth believed he was the man up for the task, but the annoyance that he was only second to asking Hubert was still there. Not to mention that Claude wanted to check it out but he's nowhere to be found.

 _That guy is probably getting over his butt pain after being with the professor._ Linhardt thought darkly to himself. He wouldn't be having these thoughts if he didn't know for a fact that the two were courting.

"Can we just get this over with?" Linhardt says. "I want to have a nap after traveling with Ferdinand."

Byleth chuckles at that. "Okay. Again, I am sorry for asking you so suddenly."

Linhardt casually waves his hand as he approaches the mirror. Anna continued chattering about the mirror, but he wasn't listening to what she had to say.

The reflection stared back at him at first. At the slightest of movement, the reflection failed to mimic Linhardt. The bishop blinked wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. The reflection blinked back at him.

"So, what do you think?" Anna asks impatiently.

"It seems like a normal mirror." Linhardt stated, "Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how you of all people would think this was a lost relic."

"Gems and rings can be relics, so I don't see why a mirror can't be one."

Anna had a point, but it ignored how mirrors couldn't be used in battle. Every Hero Relic had a purpose whether it was to kill or protect. Unless the mirror was small enough to carry around, it would just be used as a distraction. Unless someone cared to look at themselves in battle, a mirror being a Hero Relic was improbable.

"It still looks like a normal mirror to me." Linhardt continues. "The only thing that I can't put my finger on though is why there is sinister magic coming out of it…"

A part of Linhardt told him to ignore his instincts telling him that the mirror was dangerous. His desire for knowledge was always stronger than his need to be safe. Catherine criticized and praised him for this mentality, but whatever it took to learn the secrets of crests and Hero Relics, the more risks he took.

His eyes continued to stare at his reflection. Placing a hand on the mirror, he waited for something to change. The few seconds that his reflection didn't copy him could have been labeled as the mind playing a trick on him. With his attention fully on the reflection, he noticed a few more different things. Linhardt who always wore conservative clothing, had a reflection where his clothes were unbuttoned. The reflection had a flustered look on his face complete with half-lid eyes. What caught Linhardt off guard though was the sudden change of expression. The reflection smiled wickedly back at the real thing.

"!?"

The mirror suddenly flashed brightly. Linhardt had no time to react to whatever was to occur before the light struck him down until he was seeing nothing but blackness.

**Author's Note:**

> TBC with 5886 words. Notes!
> 
> 1\. This route as stated combines Azure Moon and Verdant Wind together with recruiting everyone and Hubert not dying. Edelgard and Death Knight are the only playable casualties. For now, I'll simply say that Dimitri and Claude were both at the monastery but Beth ran into Dimitri first and Claude was outside when he saw Byleth.
> 
> 2\. Hubert's memory loss came from the Shambala fight. Instead of dying protecting the gates of the palace, he retreats inside and fights with Edelgard. Edelgard still turned into her Hermon form but Byleth is the one that ends up speaking to her afterwards. Edelgard doesn't understand why Byleth was trying to spare her but it wouldn't matter since Thales is the one that takes away her desire to have her life ended by Byleth. This makes Hubert swear to work for Byleth until Those Who Slither in the Dark are killed before he decides to finish Byleth, Dimitri and Claude off. It just never comes to that because Hubert protects Ferdinand from one of Thales' attacks and that's why he has no memories.
> 
> 3\. Despite the route being merged, Byleth ends up archbishop while Dimitri is crowned the king and Beth the queen. Claude is the King of Almyra and Lorenz still gets his piece with the Alliance. I pretty much implied that Ferdinand is tasked with the Empire now that Edelgard is dead.
> 
> 4\. I imply a lot of the paired endings in one go. Some are ambiguous still but others are more apparent than others.
> 
> The explicit ones in this story...  
> Byleth/Claude  
> Dimitri/Beth  
> Caspar/Hilda  
> Sylvain/Felix  
> Ferdinand/Hubert  
> Yuri/Bernadetta  
> Hannaman & Lysithea (pairing is Cyril/Lysithea)  
> Gilbert & Annette (pairing is Mercedes/Annette)  
> Seteth & Flayn (she hasn't gone to sleep yet)  
> Linhardt solo  
> Leonie solo  
> Constance solo  
> Hapi solo
> 
> The implied ones...  
> Lorenz/Marianne  
> Dedue/Ashe  
> Petra/Dorothea  
> Catherine/Shamir  
> Balthus/Holst  
> Raphael/Ingrid  
> Ignatz/Maya


End file.
